motorola

ALSO NOTED: Traits of a bad CIO; Is the browser dead?;

Mon, 19 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

> Traits of a bad CIO. Article
> Is the browser dead? Article
> Motorola's tech chief quits. Article
> Do you have the right IT? Article
> Management pointers from guru Peter Drucker. Article

And Finally ... How many Americans have not used email? Article

Layoff Watch: Dell, AMD, Moto

Mehan Jayasuriya — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 13:00:56 -0400

As much as it pains us to admit this, you can only stare a trend in the face and deny its existance for so long. So here goes: though its not entirely surprising given the doom and gloom that's being forecasted for the American economy, it seems like there are an awful lot of job cuts in the pipes at large tech companies lately. Here's a look at this week's worst, in what hopefully is both the first and last installment of FierceCIO:LayoffWatch:

Dell: Round Rock's finest seems poised to hold on to the title of No. 1 offender two weeks in a row. Hot on the heels of 8,800 announced cuts last week, acting CEO Michael Dell has announced that even more layoffs are on the way--at least 1,000 this quarter. Article
AMD: It's no secret that AMD is hurting and it looks like the layoff rumors were true: the company plans to cut loose 10 percent of its 16,000+ workforce by Q3 of this year. Sure, 1,600 jobs pales in comparison to Dell's announcement but I think that AMD deserves an equal amount of shame, given that the company denied rumors that it would layoff 5 percent of its workforce just a few weeks ago. Article
Motorola: Moto is in pretty dire straights, considering that the company is currently deciding whether or not to split in two, so a fresh round of job cuts doesn't come as too much of a surprise. Looks like 2,600 more Motorolans will be seeing pink slips soon, bringing the grand total, since the start of 2007, to over 10,000 jobs lost. Goodbye, Moto. Article

That's it for this week but buckle your seatbelts, folks: it could be a bumpy ride ahead.

The hottest IT skills, according to Cisco

Mon, 31 Mar 2008 07:59:58 -0400

With so many issues demanding your attention, it's hard to focus on just the skills you need to enhance your job and level of competency. Cisco's Neil Anderson, director of Cisco's Enterprise Systems Engineering, recently outlined the hottest skills for tech executives in a question and answer session for ComputerWorld. Anderson is the co-author of the best-selling book, Cisco Networking Simplified. Here's a list of the skills he thinks every IT professional should have:

Security
Mobility
Unified communications/ VoIP
Video over IP
Application acceleration

For more on Anderson's advice for the IT professional:
- See this ComputerWorld article

For more tech stories from the FierceCIO network:
> Laptop battery shortage imminent? Article
> MacBook Air 'PWNED' in 2 min flat. Article
> Motorola to spin off handset unit. Article

ALSO NOTED: Gartner: 80% of apps to use open-source by 2012; Flash drives get serious about security;

Tue, 05 Feb 2008 06:59:50 -0500

> Gartner: 80% of apps to use open-source by 2012. Article
> Motorola CEO takes helm of handset division. Article
> Lenovo ThinkPad power adaptor charges phones, PDAs too. Article
> Apple bumps iPhone to 16GB of storage. Article
> Linus Torvalds blasts Sun, Microsoft, virtualization. Article
> Flash drives get serious about security. Article
> Remembering failed Apple buyout amid Microsoft/Yahoo speculation. Article

And Finally... A brand-new computer from 1984 gets unboxed. Article

Lesson learned: Don't stop innovating

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 07:00:00 -0500

It's been a pretty big week for enterprise news, hasn't it? Though things started out relatively slow, the end of the week brought two surprise announcements: Microsoft's bid for Yahoo and Motorola's announcement that it's considering spinning-off its mobile handset business. While rumors of both stories have been floating around for some time, both illustrate an important lesson for IT managers and CIOs.

As most of us will remember, there was a time, not too long ago, when both Microsoft and Motorola seemed nigh infallible. Microsoft's complete dominance of IT and desktop software once made the company the unquestioned king of the tech sector. Meanwhile, Motorola controlled a huge piece of the mobile handset market, in addition to its considerable holdings in enterprise and back-end hardware.

So, what happened? While Microsoft was concentrating on the desktop and enterprise, other companies--namely Google--snuck in and took advantage of nascent Internet-driven markets, online advertising being the most lucrative. Now, Google is poised to extend its reach into mobile advertising with Android and the folks in Redmond are scrambling to play catch up.

Similarly, Motorola attempted to coast on the momentum created by the feted StarTAC flip phone. While Moto continued to churn out minor StarTAC upgrades, competitors leapfrogged the company, producing more advanced phones that borrowed the StarTAC's groundbreaking design. Did the company learn its lesson? Nope. In fact, the same scenario repeated itself with the release of the RAZR in 2005.

What's the lesson here? No matter how successful you are, don't stop innovating. While Microsoft and Motorola were both kings of their respective hills just a few short years ago, the beginning of 2008 finds the tech titans resorting to desperate measures. Don't let this happen to your IT shop: remember, if you stop to rest on your laurels, you're only helping the competition. -Mehan

Motorola mulling spin-off of handset unit

Fri, 01 Feb 2008 06:59:55 -0500

As unlikely as the rumors may have seemed, it looks like they were true: Motorola is considering spinning-off its handset division into a separate business. "We are exploring ways in which our Mobile Devices Business can accelerate its recovery and retain and attract talent while enabling our shareholders to realize the value of this great franchise," Motorola CEO and President Greg Brown said in a statement. Motorola's handset unit lost some $388 million this quarter, compared to $341 million in earnings just one year ago. If the company were to sell its handset business, Motorola would effectively become a government and enterprise vendor.

For more on the news:
- see this Engadget article

Dell, Microsoft partner for(RED) PCs

Wed, 23 Jan 2008 06:59:54 -0500

No, it's not quite a pink PC for Valentine's Day but it's just as timely: jumping on the (Product) RED bandwagon along with Apple and Motorola, Microsoft and Dell have announced a series of limited-edition, red PCs that will lend a helping hand to AIDS patients in Africa. Above you'll see the (Product) RED XPS One, $80 of the purchase price of which will go toward 6 months of antiretroviral treatment. If an all-in-one PC isn't your thing, Dell is also offering up two laptops (the M1330 and M1530) and a printer (the 948) in (Product) RED. Not only do these machines come in a coat of red paint, they also include "six unique desktop wallpapers, a screensaver, two innovative Windows Sidebar gadgets and a (RED)-themed Windows DreamScene." If that sort of thing suits your fancy, click on over to learn more.

For more on Dell and Microsoft's (RED) partnership:
- see this Gizmodo article

Wired looks back at the story of the iPhone

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 06:59:53 -0500

With MacWorld just a few short days away, now is a good time to look back and reflect on the bounty of MacWorlds past. For example, last year's announcement of the iPhone, which was undoubtedly one of the biggest announcements in Apple's 30+ year history. Sure, you know all about the iPhone's long journey from idea to rumor to final product (and if you don't, be sure to check out FierceWireless' iPhone timeline)--but do you know the behind the scenes, untold story of the iPhone? Wired does. In their extensive feature, the venerable tech magazine details the entire history of the device, from start to finish. While most of the article restates the sort of stuff that you already know, it is peppered with a few previously-unknown details relating to early prototypes, internal struggles and Apple's partnership with Motorola for the disastrous ROKR. If you consider yourself an iPhone fanboy, be sure to check this piece out.

For more on the iPhone:
- read the full article at Wired

ALSO NOTED: Windows Mobile 7 screenshots leak; Motorola ROKR E8 is all touchscreen;

Mon, 07 Jan 2008 06:59:51 -0500

> CompUSA brand being partially salvaged. Article
> Motorola ROKR E8 is all touchscreen. Article
> OQO UMPC gets ready for XOHM WiMAX. Press Release
> Windows Mobile 7 screenshots leak. Article

And Finally... At last, show your love for Linux with a Tux the penguin desk robot. Product page

2008: Year of the Penguin?

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 06:59:54 -0500

Every January, an open-source fan out there somewhere declares the new year the year that desktop Linux finally breaks into mainstream. Yet somehow, those predictions never seem to materialize. So how about it, will 2008 finally be the year of the penguin? Ars Technica decided to take a good long look at what this coming year has in store for the Linux faithful and while it doesn't look like open-source software will quite achieve dominance within the next 12 months, there are still some potentially big gains to be made. As Ars duly notes, "...Linux desktop market share is less then one percent. Based on data from [Net Applications], Linux exceeded the market share of Microsoft's much-hated failure, Windows ME, for the first time in Q4 2007." So, realistically speaking, Linux has quite a way to go on the desktop.

Despite that fact, 2008 could be a big year for mobile and embedded Linux variants, which have already managed to capture a sizable chunk of the market. "According to the Canalys report on Q2 2007 market share, Linux holds 13.3 percent of the global smartphone market, which puts it ahead of the Windows, BlackBerry, and Palm operating systems." And considering what's on the horizon--namely Android, LiMo, Motorola's MOTOMAGX platform and Palm's next-gen OS--2008 could certainly be the year that Linux breaks into the mainstream in a small way.

For more Linux predictions:
- read this Ars Technica article